What’s Important? Discipline!

One of our “Snowbirds” visiting Mazatlan this winter came to me a while back and said if I couldn’t get him to shoot in the 80’s he was going to quit. No pressure! If I don’t succeed he leaves the game he loves and I’m branded as incompetent!

Terry and I get together for our first session, I make a few adjustments to his swing and make sure he understands his clubs are actually made to help him rather than make the game more difficult. He seems to get it. I’m guardedly optimistic.

About a week later he comes in and tells me he’s hitting the ball better but having trouble “keeping it together”. Welcome to golf, Terry. We schedule another session for the following day.

The next day I make a couple of small adjustments and he fires off several very good shots and then several marginal shots. I ask him what his thought process was for the last few shots. He says, “Well, I’m not sure”.

OK, here’s the deal. I show him one of his irons and say, “See how the back of your club is hollowed out up here, and there’s a lump of metal here with the manufacturers name, and then on the back of the hosel where the shaft goes in there’s this carved out place. What the heck is all this for? Terry says, “Geez, I don’t know”.

I tell him I have an idea of what all this is for but it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that the engineers and computer nerds that designed the club have figured out all these lumps, bumps, grooves and whatnot to give you the absolute best opportunity to produce a good shot (apologies to my engineer and tech friends).

All you have to do is have some discipline and make those two moves we have been working on. Leave the club alone and it will take very good care of you. Without discipline you got nothing. That’s it!

The next day he shoots an 84. What did he do? “I had a lot of discipline today. That’s all, and it really works!”

Kim Anders is a PGA Professional at Estrella del Mar Golf Community residing in Mazatlan, Sinaloa Mexico. You can reach Kim via email at jkanders4@gmail.com.